''Tomb Raider'' comic book series is based on the video game franchise ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...

'', currently produced by

Crystal Dynamics Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the '' Gex'', ''Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy L ...

(formerly by

Core Design Core Design Limited (known as Rebellion (Derby) Ltd between 2006 and 2010) was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Co ...

), which features the character of

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

. The original series of comics, which were released between 1999 and 2005, were published by

Top Cow Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. History During the early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Le ...

and were primarily based on the games released by Core Design. In 2014, following the

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise, the series was revived and is currently being published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

. The new timeline of events is based upon the rebooted iteration of Lara Croft and her adventures.

Publication history

The series, which ran from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

(in which the fiftieth and final issue was released), consisted of monthly issues published by

Top Cow Productions Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. History During the early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Le ...

, who secured the rights to producing comics after a long struggle. Preceding this series, French publisher Glenat got the green light from

Eidos Eidos may refer to: * Eidos (philosophy), a Greek term meaning "form" "essence", "type" or "species". See Plato's theory of forms and Aristotle's theory of universals * Eidos plc, a British software company, which created video game publisher Eido ...

France to produce a comic series called ''Dark Eons'' based on the ''Tomb Raider'' games, which was taken off the market shortly after. Besides the monthly series, a parallel 12-part series called ''Journeys'', which ran from

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, was also published. The comics are primarily based on the same continuity as the games by

, in which Lara's plane crashes when she is twenty-one years old (rather than the latter games by

, the plane crash happening when she was only nine years old), but the exact details are changed. In the comic, Lara is accompanied by both her parents and her fiancé, on the plane trip taken to celebrate her impending marriage (in the game series, Lara's plane is chartered to take on a skiing holiday). Writers

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw and Booster Gold. Jurgens ...

, John Nay Riber, and James Bonny worked on the series, which also featured the art of Andy Park, Michael Turner,

Billy Tan Billy Tan Mung Khoy, commonly known as Billy Tan, is a Malaysian comic book artist. Early life Billy Tan was born in Malaysia and moved to the United States when he was 18, in 1989 to study business at the University of Kentucky. He began workin ...

, and

Adam Hughes Adam Hughes (born May 5, 1967) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Catwoman''. H ...

, amongst others. There are one shots occasionally released and talk of the comic being reintroduced to tie into the '' Tomb Raider: Legend'' edited continuity. There have also been frequent crossovers with other Top Cow publications such as ''

Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Hi ...

'', '' The Darkness'', '' Magdalena'', and ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers B ...

''. The debut issue of ''Tomb Raider'' was the number one-selling comic book of 1999. In late

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Top Cow released the ''Tomb Raider Compendium''. This was a large, single volume, collected edition of the ''Tomb Raider'' comic series; a hardcover version followed in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The book encompasses all 50 issues (well over 1000 pages), as well as a cover gallery featuring select covers, most of them done by

. It is a full-size, full-color reproduction of all fifty issues on high-quality paper. This collection, however, does not include the various specials, minis, and one-shots from the series. This would probably explain why the compendium has "Volume One" written on the side.

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

also published a "

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

" set of volumes, which reprints older stories in black-and-white in a smaller book. ''Tomb Raider'' comics were announced to return in late

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, but this was delayed due to licensing issues. In 2014,

began publishing a new series of comics, set between the 2013 reboot and its

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

Gail Simone Gail Simone (aka Gladys Simonetti) is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's ''Birds of Prey'', ''Batgirl'', Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Other ...

wrote the first six issues, before collaborating with

Rhianna Pratchett Rhianna Pratchett (born 30 December 1976) is an English video game writer and journalist. She has worked on ''Heavenly Sword'' (2007), ''Overlord'' (2007), ''Mirror's Edge'' (2008) and ''Tomb Raider'' (2013) and its follow up, ''Rise of the Tom ...

for the next arc. Pratchett took over for the rest of the series. In 2016, another series started to bridge the gap between ''

Rise of the Tomb Raider ''Rise of the Tomb Raider'' is a 2015 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Microsoft Studios and Square Enix's Square Enix Europe, European subsidiary. The game is the eleventh main ...

'' and the next game in the series, ''

Shadow of the Tomb Raider ''Shadow of the Tomb Raider'' is a 2018 action-adventure video game developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It continues the narrative from the 2015 game ''Rise of the Tomb Raider'' and is the twelfth m ...

''.

Publications

Primary series * ''Tomb Raider, Starring Lara Croft'' vol. 1 (1999-2005) changed to ''Lara Croft, Tomb Raider'' with issue #25 in 2002 due to the release of the movie of the same name in 2001 was the first ongoing series featuring the character published by

. It ran for 50 issues with ''Tomb Raider'' #0 and #1/2. * ''Tomb Raider'' vol. 2 (2014-2015) was the second ongoing series published by

. It ran for 18 issues and was written by

and

. * ''Tomb Raider'' vol. 3 (2016-2017) was the third ongoing series published by

. It ran for 12 issues and was written by

Mariko Tamaki Mariko Tamaki (born 1975) is a Canadian artist and writer. She is known for her graphic novels '' Skim'', ''Emiko Superstar,'' and ''This One Summer'', and for several prose works of fiction and non-fiction."Mariko Tamaki". CBC Radio, '' The Next ...

. Limited series * ''Tomb Raider, Starring Lara Croft: Journeys'' (2001-2003) 12-issue limited series; written by Fiona Kai Avery; penciled by Drew Johnson, Gerardo Sandoval, Drew Green, Carlos Mota, Manny Clark, and Mun Kao Tan; inks by Jay Leisten and Marlo Alquiza; colors by J.D. Smith, Tyson Wengler, and Brian Buccelato * ''Tomb Raider: Survivor's Crusade'' (2017) 4-issue limited series; written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, penciled by

Ashley A. Woods Ashley A. Woods (born October 15, 1985) is a comic book artist from Chicago, Illinois, known for her work on the ''Tomb Raider'', ''Niobe'', and ''Ladycastle'' series. Early life Woods was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and developed an i ...

* ''Tomb Raider: Inferno'' (2018) 4-issue limited series; written by Jackson Lanzing, penciled by

PJ Holden Paul Jason Holden (born 28 December 1969) is a Northern Irish comic artist based in Belfast. He has worked for '' 2000 AD'', ''Warhammer Monthly'', and ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. Among other stories for these publications, he has provided the ar ...

One-shots * ''Tomb Raider/Witchblade'' (1997) by writer and penciler Michael Turner, inks by Joe Weems V, colors by J.D. Smith * ''Witchblade/Tomb Raider'' (1998) by writer Michael Turner and Bill O'Neil, pencils by Michael Turner, inks by Joe Weems V, colors by J.D. Smith * ''Witchblade/Tomb Raider'' #1/2 (2000) by writer Michael Turner and Bill O'Neil, pencils by Ken Cha, inks by Andy Owens, colors by Matt Nelson * ''Tomb Raider: Origins'' (2000) by writer

; pencils by Mark Pajarillo; inks by Danny Miki * ''Tomb Raider/The Darkness Special'' (2001) by writer

David Wohl David Wohl is an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known as an editor at Marvel Comics and Top Cow Productions and, at the latter, writing '' The Darkness'' and ''Witchblade''. Career David Wohl began his creative career as a h ...

, art by

, colors by Steve Firchow * ''Tomb Raider: The Greatest Treasure of All'' (2002) by writer

; art by

Joe Jusko Joe Jusko (; born September 1, 1959) is an American artist known for his realistic, highly detailed painted fantasy, pin-up, and cover illustrations, mainly in the comic book industry. Jusko painted the 1992 Marvel Masterpieces trading cards, the ...

* ''Tomb Raider: Epiphany'' (2003) by writer

; pencils by

Darryl Banks Darryl Banks is an American comic book artist. He worked on one of the first painted comic books, ''Cyberpunk'', and teamed with the writer Mark Ellis (American author), Mark Ellis to revamp the long-running ''Justice Machine, The Justice Machin ...

; inks by Al Vey * ''Tomb Raider: Scarface’s Treasure'' (2003) by writer

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He serve ...

, art by

Mark Texeira Mark Texeira () is an American comic book artist. Classically trained as a painter, he broke into the comics field in the early 1980s. Career Mark Texeira was born and raised in New York City. He attended Manhattan's High School of Art and ...

, colors by

Beth Sotelo Beth Sotelo is an American comic book colorist working with Aspen MLT. Having started at Top Cow Productions in 2001, she has since worked at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, two of the largest American comic publishers. Early life Sotelo grew ...

* ''Tomb Raider: Takeover'' (2004) by writer James Bonny; pencils by Scott Benefiel; inks by Jasen Rodriguez * ''Tomb Raider: Arabian Nights'' (2004) by writer Fiona Kai Avery; art by

* ''Tomb Raider: Cover Gallery'' (2006) featuring art of:

Marc Silvestri Marc Silvestri (born March 29, 1958) is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He serves as CEO of both Top Cow Productions and Image Comics. Early life Marc Silvestri was born on March 29, 1958 in Palm Beach, Florida.Rosenberg, ...

, Michael Turner and more * ''Tomb Raider: The Beginning'' (2013) by writer

; pencils by Andrea Mutti and Nicolás Daniel Selma

Collected editions

Tomb Raider Series Trades Tomb Raider Compendium Edition Tomb Raider Tankōbon Tomb Raider Archives Tomb Raider Library Edition Tomb Raider Omnibus

References

External links

Tomb Raider Comics.com
*
Tomb Raider
at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

''Tomb Raider: Scarface's Treasure''
(previews).

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

. February 20, 2002.
''Tomb Raider'' #50
(previews). Newsarama. February 15, 2005.

Interviews

Heroine Chic: Adam Hughes Talks 'Wonder Woman', 'Tomb Raider'

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

. February 15, 2001.
''Tomb Raider: Arabian Nights''
Newsarama. August 2, 2004. {{Tomb Raider series Works based on Tomb Raider Comics based on video games